v 






LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



ChapMltf Copyright No. 

Shell.iH-i-\V <i 

i-^A^ 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



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Wood's Town of Huntington. 



(gbitton Ctmtte( 
to 21(5 (Loptes. 





SILAS WOOD. 

HUMTINGTON. I^. I. i76q-i847- 

From an original daguerreotype. 



SILAS WOOD'S SKETCH OF THE 
TOWN OF HUNTINGTON, L.I. 

FROM ITS FIRST SETTLEMENT TO THE 

END OF THE AMERICAN 

REVOLUTION. 



EDITED WITH GENEALOGICAL AND 
HISTORICAL NOTES 

WILLIAM S. PELLETREAU, A. M. 



NEW YORK : 
FRANCIS P. HARPER. 



.1898. 



'y •■> '? 



Copyright 1898, 

BY 

Francis P. Harper. 

1 ^ 




TWO COPIES RECEIVED^ 



Sncf COPY, 
1893. 



TO 

RICHARD H. HANDLEY, ESQ., 

of Smithtown, Long Island, as a very slight token of 

respect, and acknowledgment of many favors 

and much assistance in the work of 

collecting and preserving history, 

this work is respectfully 

dedicated. 



INTRODUCTION. 

Among the earliest settlers on Long Island was 
Jonas Wood, who came from Halifax, England, and 
was among the first residents of Hempstead in 1644. 
He removed to Southampton about 1649 and became 
the owner of land in the right of ' ' his father-in-law, 
Mr. Sticklin, of Hempstead. ' ' * From Southampton 
he removed to Huntington, about 1655, and was one 
of the original purchasers of Copiage and the five 
necks east, in 1657. Tradition states that he was 
drowned in Peconic River, between the 20th of April 
and the i8th of May, 1660. 

Joshua Wood, one of his descendants, was born 
October 12, 17 16, and died September 6, 1779, aged 
63. He married Ruth Wood, who was born May 26, 
1724, and died August 29, 1807, in her 84th year. 
Their children were Samuel, Selah and Silas. Of 
these children, the youngest, Silas Wood, who has left 
a lasting fame as the Historian of Long Island, was 
born at West Hills, in the town of Huntington, Sep- 
tember 14, 1769. At the early age of 16 he entered 
Princeton College, pursued a full classical course, and 
graduated from that institution with high honors. In 
1795, he was elected Member of Assembly, where he 

*See Vol. I, Printed Records of Southampton, page 47. 

VII 



INTRODUCTION. 

served for four years, and introduced the first General 
Highway Act, which with a few changes has remained 
in force till the present time. 

What was known as the ' ' Great West ' ' at that time 
meant the western part of the State of New York and 
the " Ohio region." Mr. Wood became the owner of 
a large tract in Johnstown, and spent several years in 
•establishing a settlement. In 1802, he married Catha- 
rine Huyck, a descendant of one of the Dutch families 
who settled in the Mohawk valley. She died suddenly 
"while they were on a journey through what was then 
a wilderness, now Montgomery County, N. Y. Short- 
ly after that he began the study of law, and was 
admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of that 
State, February 15, 1810. On March 2nd of the same 
year, he was appointed Master in Chancery, and in 
May, 1 81 3, became Solicitor in Chancery. In Novem- 
ber, 181 7, he was elected Member of Congress, taking 
his seat March 4, 18 19. In this high position he served 
five terms, a period of ten years. During the whole 
of his Congressional career he was an earnest opponent 
of the extension of slavery and a strong supporter of a 
protective tariff, and never failed to advance the idea 
that a country like our own should be self-supporting 
and entirely independent of most of the manufactured 
products of foreign nations. 

From 1818 to 1821, he was District Attorney for 
Suffolk County, and for a long term of years he was 
the recognized leader of the Suffolk County Bar. 



VIII 



INTRODUCTION. 

His " Sketch of the Early Settlements of Long 
Island," which has made his name famous, was the 
work of his leisure time for many years. He lived 
before the days of railroads, and his journeys in pur- 
suit of information were made in a plain box wagon 
"as plain as himself." In this humble vehicle he 
traveled throughout the Island visiting the clerks' 
offices of every town and county. This "Sketch" 
was first printed in 1824. and was a small volume of 
66 pages. A second edition, containing 112 pages, 
was published in 1826. A third edition, of 183 pages, 
appeared in 1828. This last edition was printed for 
the sole purpose of doing honor to the memory of Gen. 
Nathaniel Woodhull. The first edition of this work 
was limited to 250 copies, while of the second and third 
only 100 copies were printed, and it is not strange that 
copies are now scarce and command a high price. A 
fine reprint of the work, with a brilliantly written life 
of its distinguished author by his friend and admirer, 
Alden J. Spooner, Esq., was issued in 1865. 

The "Sketch of the Geography of the Town of 
Huntington," which is here reprinted, was prepa;red 
while the author was in Congress. Of this little work 
only a limited edition was printed, and a large portion 
of that was destroyed by a fire that consumed the house 
of his neighbor, Moses Rolph, and copies of the orig- 
inal pamphlet are exceedingly rare. 
': In the spring of 1830, Silas Wood withdrew entirely 
from the world of politics and business, of which he 



IX 



INTRODUCTION. 

had for many years been so distinguished a part. To 
make his separation more complete he sold his law 
library, ceased to take the newspapers, and devoted 
the remainder of his years to religious contemplation. 
At the age of 63 he joined the Presbyterian Church. 
At the time of his death his library consisted entirely 
of a small number of religious books, which he left to 
the Presbyterian Church, at Sweet Hollow, near Hunt- 
ington. 

In 1829, he married Elizabeth, daughter of Josiah 
Smith, of Long Swamp, Huntington. He left no 
descendants to inherit his fortune or his fame. He 
died at peace with God and mankind March 2, 1847, 
in the 78th year of his age. His remains were buried 
in the Old Hill burying ground, adjoining the Pres- 
byterian Parsonage in Huntington, and one of the 
plainest of plain tombstones marks his last resting 
place. 

He was farsighted as a statesman, able and con- 
vincing as a lawyer, careful and painstaking as a 
historian, and left behind him a reputation for honor 
and uprightness that no one could assail. 

William S. Pelletreau. 

Southampton, L. I., July \2, 1898. 



A SKETCH 



THE GEOGRAPHY 



Town of Huntington ; 



BRIEF HISTORY 



FIRST SETTLEMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITION 



TO THE END OF 



THE REVOLUTION. 



BY SILAS WOOD. 



WASHINGTON 



PRINTED BY DAVIS & FORCE, (FRANKLIN'S HEAD, PENNSYLVANIA AVE. ) 

1824. 



A SKETCH 

OF 



THE GEOGRAPHY, 

OF THE 

TOWN OF HUNTINGTON. 



SITUATION AND EXTENT. 

Huntington is the most westerly town in Suffolk 
county — it comprises a section of the island, extend- 
ing from the sound to the South- Bay, in its widest 
part. The principal village lies about 40 miles north 
easterly from New- York, in 40 deg. 52 min. north / 
latitude, and 73 deg. of longitude, west of Greenwich. 

It is bounded on the north by the sound, on the 
east, by a line running from Fresh Pond to the north- 
west angle of Winnacomac Patent, and from thence 
to the creek east of Sunquam's neck; then down said 
creek to the South-Bay, and from thence south to the 
ocean. On the south by the ocean, on the west by 
Cold Spring Harbour, and by a line running from the 
head of the said harbour, to a creek west of West 
Neck; then down the said creek to the South-Bay, 
and from thence running southerly to a monument on 
the beach, fixed by commissioners appointed by law 
in 1797. 



A SKETCH OF 



It extends about lo miles on the sound, and 6 miles 
on the South- Bay, and 20 from north to south, and 
contains nearly 160 square miles. 

In 1691, Horse Neck,i which lies within the bounds 
of Huntington Patent, was annexed to Queen's county, 
by an act of the legislature, and has remained so ever 
since. 

POPULATION.^ 

By the census of 1820, the town of Huntington con- 
tained 4935 inhabitants of the following description: 

White Males. White Females. 

Under 10 years, - 728 Ditto. - - 645 
Between 10&16, - 344 do. - - 320 



do. 16 & 26, 428 


do. 


404 


do. 26 & 45, - 464 


do. 


- 492 


Upwards of 45, - 382 


do. 


395 


2346 


2256 


Male Slaves. 




Female Slaves. 


Under 14, . . - 9 


do. 


10 


Between 14 & 26, - 19 


do. 


II 


do. 26&45, - 5 


do. 


7 


Upwards of 45, - i 


do. 


2 


34 




30 


Free Coloured 


Free Coloured 


Males. 




Females. 


Under 14, - - 40 


do. 


- - 38 


Between 14 & 26, - 12 


do. 


44 


do. 26 & 45, 22 


do. 


- 25 


Upwards of 45, - 14 


do. 


14 



88 



TOWN OF HUNTINGTON, L. I. 



All other persons — 60 

White Males, - - 2846 Employed in Agricul- 
White Females, 2256 ture, - - - 1069 
Male Slaves, - - 34 Employed in Trade, 2>Z 

Female Slaves, 30 do, as Tradesmen, 261 

Free coloured Males, 88 

Free coloured Fe- 1363 

males, - - - 121 
Other persons, - 60 



Total, 



4935 



COMPARATIVE POPULATION. 



1820, 

East Hampton, - 1646 
South Hampton, 4229 
Shelter-Island, - 389 
Brook- Haven, 5218 
Islip, - - - 1 156 
Huntington, - 4935 
Smith Town, - 1874 
River Head, - 1857 
South Old, - - 2968 



Suffolk, - - 24272 
Queens, - 2 15 19 
Kings, - - 11187 



Employment of Males over 16. 




Agricul. 


Com. 


Manuf. 


Suffolk, 


4642 


342 


1093 


Queens, 


4130 


102 


1119 


Kings, 


840 


81 


713 



9612 525 2931 
Males over 16, 141 80 

Employed in A. C. M., 13068 



Unemployed, 

Males. Females. 

11761 11250 

9643 9040 

5096 4514 



56978 26500 



24804 as 13 to 12 



A SKETCH OF 



Proportion of Population of Long-Island to the State of 
New - York. 
Long-Island. State. 

1731, - - 17820 - - 50,291 as I to 3 

1771, - - 27731 - - 163,338 as I to 6 
1786, - - 30863 - - 238,896 as I to 7 

1790, - - 36949 - - 340,120 as I to 9 
1800, - - 42167 - - 586,141 as I to 14 

1810, - - 48752 - - 959,049 as I to 19 
1820, - - 56978 - 1,372,812 as I to 24 

Proportion of Population of New- York to the United- 
States. 
New- York. 
I790» - 340,120 

1800, - - 586,050 - 
1810, - 959,049 

1820, - 1,372,812 - 

Of the number of taxables in the Town, and the 
valuation of their real and personal property at differ- 
ent periods. 

1687 taxables, - 84 - valuation, 
1787 do. - 458 - do. 

181 9 do. - 648 - do. 

1823 do. - 729 - do. 



United States. 

- 3,950,000 as I to II 
5,305,666 as I to 9 

- 7,230,514 as I to 7 
9,654,415 as I to 7 



\ 15,088 68 
326,352 52 

1,253,850 00 
811,480 00 



Comparative 


valuation of the several towns in Suffolk. 


Valuat'n. Tax. Valuat'n. Tax. Valuat'n. Tax. Valuat'n. Tax. 




1804. 






1812. 






1818. 






1823. 






East Hampton, 


315900 


78 


97 


308200 


115 


57 


657900 


109 


65 


464060 


154 


72 


Southampton, 


607380 


151 


85 


620490 


232 


63 


1357750 


226 


29 


960305 


320 


10 


Shelter-Island, 


77040 


19 


26 


81735 


30 


54 


141490 


23 


58 


105640 


35 


21 


South Old, 


407170 


101 


79 


399100 


149 


66 


651600 


108 


60 


534920 


178 


30 


River-Head, 


238490 


59 


62 


232891 


87 


33 


388066 


64 


68 


267380 


89 


12 


Brook-Haven, 


765910 


191 


48 


768050 


288 


01 


1369580 


228 


26 


969500 


323 


16 


Smith-Town, 


418320 


104 


58 


375464 


140 


79 


426675 


71 


11 


320078 


106 


69 


Huntington, 


702030 


175 


51 


739720 


277 


39 


1253850 


208 


98 


811480 


270 


49 


Islip, 


213400 


53 


35 


219730 


82 


39 


373370 


62 


23 


279349 


93 


11 




3745640 


936 


41 


3745380 


1404 


46 


6620281 


1103 


38 


4712712 


1570 


90 



TO WN OF HUNTINGTON, L. I. 

Of the several Counties on the Island in 1821. 
Kings, $ 3,513,164 
Queens, 5,876,775 
Suffolk, 4,889,474 

Whole State. 

$14,279,413—241,283,532 as I to 16. 

Proportion of the valuation of the County of Suffolk to 
the State. 

COUNTY. STATE. 

1815 16,834,906 $ 293,882,224 as I to 43. 

1817 6,676,267 315,370,836 as I to 47. 

1819 5,327,392 281,068,280 as I to 52. 

1820 5,267,141 256,605,300 as I to 48. 

1821 4,889,474 241,283,532 as I to 49. 

CLIMATE. 

The insular situation of this town renders it more 
temperate than places in the same parallel of latitude, 
at a distance from the sea. In the summer it is regu- 
larly fanned by a sea breeze, which generally rises 
afternoon, but sometimes before, and extends more or 
less across the Island, according to the strength and 
continuance of the wind. In the winter the predomi- 
nant winds are from the west and southwest. The 
thermometer seldom sinks below zero in winter and 
seldom rises higher than 90 degrees in summer. The 
mean temperature of the year is about 51 degrees,* 
and the weather is clear three-fifths of the year. 

* The mean temperature of Italy 30 years before the birth of 
Christ, was about 51— in the year 1783, it was 68. The mean tem- 
perature of the different places in Europe is about 10 degs. higher 
than the corresponding latitudes in the United States, and this is 
found, by experiment, to be about the difference of the tempera- 
ture of the earth in cleared and uncleared land. 

5 



A SKETCH OF 



White frost happens when the thermometer is 
at 49 degs. 

And black do at 39 degs. 

Peach trees bloom the last of April. 

Apple trees bloom the loth of May. 

The white oak begins to leave 20th of May. 

The dog wood blossoms ist of June. 

Pasture is fit for horses the 20th of May, and con- 
tinues till the 20th of November. 

Cattle need some kind of provender for six months 
in the year. 

The following are the results of a series of observa- 
tions made in Huntington for 455 days, commencing 
the ist September, 1821. 



Greatest Heat. 

1822, July 4 — 94 
do. 20 — 94 



Greatest Cold. 

1822, January 5 — 5 below zero, 
do. 14 — 4 do. 

do. 24 — at zero. 

September 3 — 94 do. 25 — 2 below. 

The mean temperature of the several months in the 
year from the ist September, 1821 to ist September, 



September, 
October, 


- 67 

■ 54 


degrees, 
do. 


Winds. 
North, 


20 


November, 


- 43 


do. 


Northwest, 


41 


December, 


- 32 


do. 


Northeast, 


52 


January, 

February, 

March, 


- 25 

- 30 

- 41 


do. 
do. 
do. 


East, 

Southeast, 

South, 


59 
21 

25 



TOWN OF HUNTINGTON, L. I. 



April, 

May, 

June, 

July, 

August, 



48 degrees. 
61 do. 
69 do. 

75 do. 
72 do. 



Winds. 
Southwest, - 120 
- 117 



West. 



The mean of the 
year, - - 51 

Temperature of 
deep wells and 
springs, - - 51 



Weather. 
Clear, 
Cloudy, 
Rainy, 
Snowy, 



455 



270 

113 

51 

21 



455 



SURFACE OF THE COUNTRY. 

The surface of this town along the sound, and for 
two or three miles from it, is rough and uneven, and 
in some places stony— it then becomes level, and' con- 
tinues so from 2 to 4 miles in different places, when 
there are three separate short ridges or groups of hills • 
to wit, the west hills, the hilly land around the long 
swamp and Dix hills— these are irregular, and extend 
two or three miles in length, and nearly the same in 
breadth. South westerly of Dix hills, after a small 
interval of level land, there is another tract of elevated 

*NoTE— The mean temperature at the City of Washington 
was as follows: & ". 



September 72.10 

October 57. 11 

November 42.21 

December 32.30 

January 24.45 

February 33 



March. 44 

April '.'.".".'.'.'.".'52.30 

May 65.30 

June 69.40 

July 73-20 

August 76 



And the mean temperature of the year 53.35 



A SKETCH OF 

land rising in the midst of the plain land, and extends 
about three miles east and west, and about two miles 
north and south, called the half-way hollow hills. 

From these different hills, there is a gentle descent 
to the South-Bay, but it is so gradual and impercep- 
tible as not to be distinguished from a perfect plain — 
the rise from the South- Bay to the high land, near the 
sound, not being supposed to exceed lo feet in a mile. 

The South-Bay is bordered with salt and sedge 
meadows about one mile deep ; north of these mead- 
ows, there is a strip of oak-timber from one to two 
miles wide ; from this strip of timber, which is called 
the south woods, north to the hills and high lands, a 
distance of from 5 to lo miles; in different places, the 
whole country is a barren pitch-pme and shrub oak plain. 

SOIL. 

The soil on the neck's on the sound is usually good, 
and is the best land in the town — for nearly 10 miles 
from the sound, the soil is tolerably good; and with 
manure, is capable of being rendered very productive 
— it then becomes more sandy. The soil on the hills 
and high land is usually the best and most productive. 

The pine plain is a bed of sand, with intervals of a 
thin covering of sandy loam, and is uninhabited, ex- 
cept near the creeks that head there. 

The tract of land which lies between the plains and 
the salt meadows, is the only land that is cultivated on 
the south side — the soil is generally a very sandy 



TOWN OF HUNTINGTON, L. I. 

loam ; it is a thin but kind soil, and many of the pro- 
prietors, by the aid of the grass produced by the mead- 
ows and islands in the South Bay, and the sea weed 
that drifts on the shores, have rendered their farms 
quite productive, especially in grain ; but the soil is so 
porous, that the same process must be continually 
renewed to keep them so. 

The soil of every part of the town is more or less 
mixed with sand, and is deficient in moisture — it is 
very liable to suffer by drought, and is much better 
adapted to grain than grass. 

The south meadows and the islands in the South- 
Bay produce an abundance of salt and sedge grass, 
and are admirably well calculated to remedy the de- 
fects of the soil by furnishing the inhabitants with a 
substitute for English hay, for the support of their 
stock. 

AGRICULTURE. 

The inhabitants of this town have, within twenty 
years, generally begun to improve their farms by 
manure, and in some instances they have brought them 
into a high state of cultivation. Those who live on the 
north and south sides of the Island, possess more ad- 
vantages with regard to the means of procuring ma- 
nure, and have availed themselves of their situation. 
The land on the south side has improved more in value 
within 20 years than any other part of the town: but 
many farms on the north side and in the interior of 
the town have greatly increased in value, and the 



A SKETCH OF 

whole town has been rendered much more productive 
both in grain and grass than it formerly was. The 
people, generally, have become much more careful to 
increase the quantity of their barn yard and other 
manure, than they formerly were. Those who are 
able, usually procure leeched ashes and other lighter 
manures in addition to their own stock. Experience 
has proved that ashes are the most productive and 
permanent manure that can be employed in this town. 
The importation of this article has become a regular 
business, and forms the largest item in the trade of 
the town. 

WATER. 

The high land near the sound and the ridges of hilly 
land, abound with ponds of standing water; there are 
few farms without one or more of them, and many of 
them are left unenclosed for public watering places. 
Springs abound near the harbours on the north side, 
and near the creeks on the south side ; and there are 
some excellent Springs at the West Hills and half-way 
Hollow Hills. The ponds on the high lands supply 
the beasts — water for domestic use is derived from 
wells, but on the level land the water is obtained from 
wells for both purposes. Those on the hilly lands are 
shallow, but on the level land are deeper, and near 
the sound very deep, frequently as low as the level of 
high-water mark. 



TOWN OF HUNTINGTON, L. I. 

HARBOURS, BAYS AND CREEKS. 

There are several harbours on the sound within the 
limits of the town — these are Cold Spring Harbour, 
Lloyd's Harbour, Huntington Harbour, and Great 
and Little Cow Harbour. The tide rises and falls on 
an average of about 7 feet in these harbours, and they 
are navigable for vessels drawing 8 or 10 feet of water. 
The large bay formed by Eaton's and Lloyd's Neck's, 
affords water sufficient for vessels of large size, and 
was a station for some of the ships belonging to the 
British fleet, during the Revolutionary war. The 
streams that fall into these harbours, and the heads of 
the harbours, by means of dams thrown across them, 
afford accommodations for mills and other water 
works. 

The South-Bay lies between the meadows and the 
beach, and is about 4 miles wide ; it is separated from 
the ocean by the beach, which is a body of pure fine 
sand, about a quarter of a mile wide, and reaches from 
Rockway to South Hampton, nearly 80 miles in extent. 
There are several inlets or openings in the beach, 
which form communications between the ocean and 
the bay, through which vessels pass from one to the 
other— these inlets are all in the towns of Islip, Oys- 
terbay and Hempstead. 

The Fire Island inlet, which is the principal one, 
is in Islip, a few miles east of Huntington line. 

The tide rises and falls in the bay near the inlets 
about 2 feet, and lessens as the distance from the in- 

II 



A SKETCH OF 

lets increases, at Moriches — the rise and fall are scarce- 
ly perceptible. 

The bay is shallow, but the channels that intersect 
and traverse it admit of vessels that draw 4 or 5 feet 
water, and it is navigable for flat bottomed vessels 
through its whole extent. 

The bay is gradually diminishing in width by the 
sand blown from the beach, which, in the memory of 
persons now living, has formed large tracts of meadow 
on the north side of it — it is also becoming more shal- 
low by means of the sand blown from the beach, and 
forced into it from the sea, by the tide. The meadows 
are seldom overflowed as they formerly were, and are 
less productive on that account, and the navigation of 
the bay is becoming more difficult. During the revo- 
lutionary war, privateers of considerable size entered 
the Fire Island Inlet, which at this time will hardly 
admit vessels drawing six feet water. 

The south bay contains a number of small islands of 
salt marsh, which are not susceptible of cultivation, 
and are only valuable for the grass they produce. 

The south side of the town is indented by 10 or 12 
small streams or creeks, the greater number of which 
reach only a small distance above the salt and sedge 
meadows — they generally take their rise in the swamps, 
in the woods north of the meadows, and are from i to 
2 or 3 miles in length. The stream on the west side 
of Sunquam's Neck,'^ rises in a swamp near the Half 
Way Hollow Hills, and is 6 or 7 miles in length ; none 



TOWN OF HUNTINGTON, L. I. 

of these streams are navigable above the meadows, 
but several of them furnish water for mills ; and the 
one on the west of Sunquam's supports 3 grist mills 
and 4 saw mills. There are also Indian shell banks 
on several of these creeks. 

NATURE OF THE EARTH. 

The whole town is evidently alluvial; some have 
supposed that the elevated land near the sound was not 
alluvial, but recent discoveries of parts of trees above 
an hundred feet below the surface in this tract of 
country, prove that no part of it is of primitive forma- 
tion.* In no part of the town can the earth be per- 
forated many feet without coming to sand ; on the high 
land, as well as elsewhere a few feet from the surface, 
you invariably discover the same composition of earth ; 
the usual strata are loam — loam mixed with gravel or 
sand, and sand with occasional thin strata of loam or 
marl on the hills, but very seldom elsewhere ; and the 
deeper you go the purer the sand. 

On a slope at the west end of the ridge, called the 
Half- Way Hollow Hills, there is a small tract of land 
covered with coarse sand stones of a dark yellow col- 
our, some of which appear to be intermixed with some 
mineral substance. The earth here has been opened, 

* Mr. John Velsor, who lives about two miles south west of 
Cold Spring Harbour in Oysterbay, in digging a well some years 
since, at the depth of 1 10 feet, found a part of a tree about 4 feet 
in length and several inches in diameter entire, with the usual 
marks distinct, but which soon decayed on its being exposed to 
the open air. 

13 



A SKETCH OF 

and a quantity of the sulphuret of iron discovered in a 
dark coloured moist earth. At the depth of eighteen 
feet a quantity of the limbs and outer bark of the pitch 
pine was found, with the cavities and interstices filled 
with this mineral substance — but whether the branches 
and bark of the pine are an original deposition in the 
alluvial formation of the country, or have by some 
explosion and rupture been let into the earth, as the 
composition of some of the stones on the surface would 
seem to indicate, must be left to conjecture. 

TIMBER. 

The predominant timber on the north side and on 
the high lands is oak, hickory and chesnut, and with 
these is an intermixture of various other kinds — the 
timber on the plains is pitch pine and shrub oak brush, 
with spots intermixed with a kind of dwarf white oak. 
Before the revolutionary war the people of Huntington 
were very careful of their timber, and cut only such as 
was old and decayed. During the war the British 
refugees seized the farms of such of the inhabitants as 
had retired within the American lines, and cut off all 
the timber, and it was then supposed had ruined the 
farms ; but within a few years, these farms were cov- 
ered with a fine growth of young timber. This dis- 
covery has changed the mode of managing timber 
land. The practice now universally adopted is to cut 
the timber entirely off and to keep the sprouts fenced, 
and in this way it is supposed the timber on the hills 

14 



TOWN OF HUNTINGTON, L. I. 

and the high land will replace itself in every thirty- 
years. 

The town abounds with the plants, shrubs, and 
flowers of similar climates, and produces a variety of 
valuable medicinal plants. 

ANIMALS. 

When the town was first settled, it abounded with 
several kinds of wild beasts, and wild fowl, that are 
no longer to be found here, particularly wolves * and 
wildcats, wild turkeys, swans, and pelicans : deer were 
formerly abundant, and they still traverse the pine 
plain, but as there are no large swamps and thickets 
within the limits of this town to afford them refuge 
and shelter, they seldom resort here. There are 
foxes, and squirrels, rabbits, and various other small 
animals. Birds are plenty, the most valuable are the 
growse, the partridge, the quail, the plover, and the 
woodcock. 

The south bay abounds with wild fowl in their 
season ; among which are the wild goose, the brant, 
the broad bill, the widgeon, the black duck, and the 
sheldrake. The bay also abounds with fish, many of 
which are animals of passage as well as the birds, 
among which are the bass, the sheep's head, the weak 
fish, and various others. Several species of fish are 

* November loth, 1685, the committee who adjusted the charges 
against the county, allowed £i^2> 13 for forty -three wolves, young 
and old killed the year preceding, of which number fifteen were 
killed in Huntington. 

15 



A SKETCH OF 

taken in the bays on the north side. Lobsters are 
taken in the sound, and the bays on both sides of the 
town abound with eels, and most kinds of shell-fish. 

Serpents are not numerous; those most frequently 
seen are the striped snake, the black snake, the water 
snake, and the adder; the rattle snake is sometimes 
seen, but very rarely. 

HISTORY OF THE FIRST SETTLEMENT. 

A settlement was attempted at Huntington as early 
as 1640, but was interrupted and broken up by Kieft, 
the Dutch Governor, in 1642, and the people went to 
the east end of the island and formed a settlement at 
Southampton, which was the foundation of that town. 

The earliest Indian deed for lands in this town, is 
the deed to Governor Eaton, for Eaton's Neck, in 
1646. The first Indian deed'^ to the original settlers of 
Huntington, was obtained in 1653, and comprises all 
the lands between Cold Spring and East Cowharbour, 
and extending from the Sound to the old Country 
Road, including Horse Neck, which it seems was not 
intended to be conveyed by the Indians, and was sold 
in 1654, to three men living in Oysterbay. 

This may be considered the date of the first perma- 
nent settlement in the town. 

It is to be regretted, that we have no account of the 
transactions or state of the settlement during the first 
five years from its commencement. The records of 
those years have by some means or other been de- 

16 



TOWN OF HUNTINGTON, L. I. 

stroyed, and all the events connected with that inter- 
esting period are unknown. 

In 1656, the people of Huntington obtained a deed 
for the land extending from Cowharbour to Nissaquage 
River, and from the Sound to the Country Road. Six 
of the South Necks were purchased in 1657, and three 
in 1658; the other Neck with the lands lying south of 
the Country Road, were purchased at different times 
after that date. 

INDIAN PROPRIETORS. 

The lands in the town of Huntington^ were claimed 
by three different tribes of Indians; the Matinecoes, 
the Massapeags, and the Secataugs. The first claimed 
the country from Cold Spring to Nissaquage River, 
and from the Sound to the old Country Road ; the sec- 
ond claimed that part of the town which lies between 
the old Country Road and the South Bay, as far east 
as a line from the middle of Copiague north to the said 
Country Road ; and, the third claimed all the remainder 
of the town. 

Wyandance Sachem, of Montauk, in 1659, sold the 
lands on both sides of the Nissaquage River, extend- 
ing west as far as Cowharbour, to Lyon Gardiner, of 
East Hampton, who, in 1663, sold to Richard Smith. 
Mr. Smith^ obtained a deed of confirmation for the 
same lands of the Sachem of the Nissaquage Indians, 
in 1665, who was dissatisfied with the sale made by 
Wyandance, and thus became the sole proprietor of 
Smithfield, as it was then called. 

17 



A SKETCH OF 

Both these Sachems denied the right of the Matin- 
ecoc Indians^ to the lands between Cowharbour and Nis- 
saquage River, which they had sold to the people of 
Huntington. ^The conflicting claims of these different 
tribes of Indians, produced a long controversy between 
the people of Huntington and the proprietor of Smith- 
town, which, after an arbitration and several law suits, 
terminated in 1675, in a division of the disputed prem- 
ises between the parties, and the boundary between 
the two towns was determined to be a line, running 
from Fresh Pond to Whitman's Hollow; the north- 
west corner of Winnacomac patent.^ 

STATE OF THE INDIANS. 

There is no record of the number of Indians belong- 
ing to these tribes, it is presumed, however, that they 
were considerably numerous. The shell banks around 
the harbours on the north side, and the creeks on the 
south side of the town, from their size and number 
indicate that the population was once very consider- 
able, or must have been stationary there a long time. 

Their numbers were such as rendered it prudent for 
the first settlers to take measures to guard against sur- 
prise, and to be prepared to resist any attack that they 
might make on them. 

By a vote of town meeting in 1658, every man was 
required to be provided with a good gun and sword, 
and with a certain quantity of powder and lead, and 
was obliged to assemble, when warned, under a pen- 
alty for neglect in any of these respects. The first 



TOWN OF HUNTINGTON, L. I. 

settlers also erected a fort for their security, which by 
a vote of town meeting in 1680, they gave to Mr. 
Jones, their minister, for fire wood. These precau- 
tions were probably taken as well against the Indians 
as the Dutch. 

The Duke's laws in 1665, prohibited the sale of arms 
and ammunition to the Indians, and in 1670, the whites 
were forbidden to sell horses to them. October 7th, 
1 68 1, four Indians came to a store at Cold Spring in 
the night, and forcibly took two guns and a quantity 
of rum, tobacco, and venison, and threatened the lives 
of the family. The first settlers were in the practice 
of guarding their cattle which they turned in the 
wood, and it might have been to protect them against 
the Indians as well as wild beasts, and it is probable 
they might have been sometimes troublesome to in- 
dividuals ; but the records furnish us no evidence that 
the settlement was ever interrupted by any general 
attack by them. 

The Indians raised corn and vegetables, and these 
with the deer, wild fowl, and various kinds of shell 
fish, and other fish that abounded here, must have 
afforded them easy and ample means of subsistence. 
Notwithstanding these advantages, they still continued 
in the hunter state, and had made no advances in the 
arts which are usually first cultivated in the infancy of 
society ; they were not distinguished by their dwellings, 
their clothing, their domestic utensils, or their weapons 
from the natives of the interior. The only materials 



19 



A SKETCH OF 

of art among them seem to have been some rude ves- 
sels of earth hardened in the fire, and these are some- 
times found in their shell banks. 

They had certain festivals in which it was supposed 
they worshiped evil spirits, and by the Duke's laws of 
1665, it was enacted that " no Indians should at any 
time be suffered to pawaw, or perform worship to the 
devil, in any town within the government ; ' ' but noth- 
ing is now certainly known of the manners, customs 
or religious sentiments of these tribes of Indians. 

At the first settlement of this town, these tribes 
seem to have been under the influence of W5''andance 
Sachem, of Montauk, and in some kind of subjection 
to him. The first purchaser of these tribes deemed it 
an object to have their deeds signed by him as well as 
by the Sachem of the tribe who claimed the land. Sev- 
eral of the earliest deeds in this town are executed in 
this manner. In one of these deeds he is called the 
Sachem of Paumanacke or Long- Island. 

When the first settlements on the island were made, 
the Indians were at war with the Narraganset Indians 
who obtained a victory over them, and took the daugh- 
ter of Wyandance, the Montauk Sachem, captive, who 
was redeemed by the assistance of Lyon Gardiner, of 
Gardiner's Island; in gratitude for which, the chief 
afterwards presented him with a deed for the territory 
which now forms the town of Smithtown. 

By a tradition of the Indians in some parts of the 
Island, they had been greatly diminished by a raging 



TOWN OF HUNTINGTON, L. I. 

pestilence a few years before the arrival of the whites 
among them. They had also been reduced by a war 
with the Peguods of Connecticut, by whom they were 
subdued and subjected to tribute. All these tribes 
have long since disappeared, and not a solitary Indian 
remains in this town to remind us of the original in- 
habitants of the country, nor are there any monuments 
to shew that the country was ever before inhabited, 
except the shell banks before-mentioned. 

STATE OF THE COUNTRY. 

The Indians here, as well as every where else where 
they were settled, annually burnt over the woods in 
order to clear the land, and to provide food for the 
deer and other game. 

There are numerous facts to prove that at the time 
of the first settlement of this town, the woods were 
destitute of under brush, and that the large trees were 
so scarce, that it was deemed necessary to preserve 
them from waste, and to prescribe means for their 
preservation. 

The first settlers commenced their improvements 
immediately without any previous clearing: they en- 
closed large tracts of land by a common fence for plant- 
ing, and also for pasturing such part of their stock as 
they did not wish to run at large. 

By a vote of town meeting, 27th December, 1659, 
they resolved, that if the two half mile squares which 
had been set apart for planting could not be fenced by 



A SKETCH OF 

the two ends of the town, as was expected, then such 
as could agree together might look out for a tract fit 
for corn elsewhere, and fence and improve it in the 
best way they could. 

By a vote, 14th April, 1668, it was concluded to en- 
close the town plat for common use, for certain por- 
tions of their stock which they choose to keep from 
ranging at a distance, and every man was enjoined to 
make as much of the fence as was proportionable to the 
interest which he was to have in the field, in a given 
time, under the penalty of five shillings for every rod 
that was not made by that time. 

The settlers at first only took up the open land, and 
suffered the timbered land to remain in common, and 
subject to the regulations of the town. 

In March, 1659, the inhabitants by a vote at town- 
meeting, resolved that no timber should be cut for sale 
within three miles of the settlement, under the penalty 
of five shillings for every tree. In 1660, they made an 
exception of white oak timber, for pipe staves ; but in 
December, 1668, the constable and magistrates, after 
stating their apprehensions that the town was in dan- 
ger of being ruined by the destruction of its timber, 
ordered, that no timber should be cut or wrought for 
pipe staves, hogshead staves, or barrel heads, for 
transportation, on the town commons, within three 
miles of the settlement, under the penalty of five shil- 
lings for every tree so cut, or wrought, contrary to the 
order; and also forbid the inhabitants to suffer any 



TOWN OF HUNTINGTON, L. I. 

stranger to cut any timber within the limits of the 
town, under the like penalty. 

The timber in the woods was so thin and sparse, 
that they abounded with feed, and the people depended 
on them for pasture for the cattle that were not needed 
for domestic purposes. 

The 30th May, 1665, it was ordered by a vote of 
town-meeting, that all the young and dry cattle should 
be driven to Horse Neck to pasture, after the second 
day of June ensuing. 

The 14th April, 1667, by a like vote, it was or- 
dered, that all the dry and young cattle belonging to 
the town, should be driven to Crab-Meadow, or be- 
yond, to Sunken - Meadow, to pasture, the first of 
May. 

It is evident, also, that the Pine plains were bare of 
brush at this time. 

The 7th December, 1663, the inhabitants, at town- 
meeting, after complaining that great damage was 
done to the South-Meadows by the swine that found 
their way there from the settlement, Resolved, that 
the owners should forthwith fetch them away, and 
keep them from returning, under a penalty of ten 
shillings for every one that was suffered to remain 
there two days, after notice of their being there. It is 
not probable that the swine would have ranged as far 
as the south side, if the plains had been covered with 
brush, as they now are. 

By neglecting the Indian practice of annual burn- 



23 



A SKETCH OF 

ings, in a few years the young timber and underbrush 
increased so as to injure the feed in the woods. 

In 1667, the town Court appointed two men to warn 
the inhabitants to meet, to fire the woods at such time 
as they should think fit, and ordered, that every one 
so warned, should attend, under the penalty of four 
shillings for every day's neglect. — ist July, 1668, it 
was voted by the town-meeting, that every male over 
sixteen years of age, should assemble, when warned 
by the men who were appointed for that purpose, to 
cut down brush or underwood when it should be 
thought a fit time to destroy it, under the penalty of 
five shillings a day for neglect. 

The 7th October, 1672, the governor, by an order, 
after stating that the feed for horses and cattle in the 
woods on Long-Island, had decayed by the increase of 
brush and underwood ; directed the inhabitants from 
sixteen to sixty, to turn out four days in every year, 
under the direction of the town officers, to cut out the 
brush and underwood, under the penalty of five shil- 
lings for every day's neglect. 

MODE OF OBTAINING LAND. 

The first settlers purchased their lands of the natives 
who claimed them ; the consideration given for them, 
was very inconsiderable, and usually consisted of blan- 
kets, clothing, fishing implements, and sometimes of 
guns and ammunition ; but, in all cases was such as 
they deemed an equivalent, and with which they were 
satisfied. The settlers at first only took up a house-lot 

24 



TOWN OF HUNTINGTON, L. I. 

in the village, and this is supposed to be all the land 
taken up, before the first Patent. 

Immediately after the conquest of New- York, in 
1664, the English governor ordered that the purchasers 
of Indian lands, should take out letters patent for the 
confirmation of the purchases, and forbid any further 
purchases to be made of the natives without a license 
from the government. 

In 1666, the inhabitants of Huntington obtained a 
patent, by which the whole territory between Cold 
Spring and Nissaquage river, and between the Sound 
and the Sea was erected into a Town, with town priv- 
ileges: the purchases made of the Indians by the 
inhabitants were confirmed, but the patent gave no 
power to the inhabitants to purchase the lands which 
were still held by the Indians within the limits of the 
Town. 

INTEREST OF PROPRIETORS. 

The expense of the patent was defrayed by a volun- 
tary contribution of all the inhabitants, and the inter- 
est of each in the vacant land was determined to be in 
proportion to his contribution — a given sum constituted 
one right, the half of that sum half a right, and double 
the said sum two rights, and there were as many 
rights as the said sum was contained in the amount 
that was paid for the patent— the rights were called 
hundreds or hundred pound rights. 

It is not now known how many rights were under 
the first patent, nor what was the expense of obtain- 

25 



A SKETCH OF 

ing it. In 167 1, there were 90 rights in the whole 
Town, in 1688, they were reduced to 34, and in 1689 
to 70. 

It is probable that this reduction took place by the 
removal of some of the proprietors to other places, and 
that on such removal they abandoned their rights to 
the lands not taken up, or that their rights in the same 
were deemed to be forfeited, and to devolve on those 
who remained in the Town. 

In 1688, the people of Huntington obtained another 
patent, bounded in the same manner as the former 
one, which after confirming their titles to the lands 
which had already been purchased, granted all the re- 
mainder of the lands within the limits of the patent, 
(except the necks on the south side, and the land to 
the north of them,) absolutely to the inhabitants ac- 
cording to their rights or shares in the original pur- 
chases, and also incorporated the Town. The expense 
of this patent was levied on the proprietors according 
to their rights in the first patent, and their interests 
under this patent remained the same as before. 

In 1694, they took out their present patent, by which 
the eastern limit of the Town was altered, their former 
purchases confirmed, and the right of pre-emption to 
all the lands within the limits of the patent not then 
purchased of the Indians was secured to them, and the 
incorporation of the Town was renewed. 

The expense of this patent amounted to ^56.18.3, 
of which sum ^50 was paid to the governor and public 



26 



TOWN OF HUNTINGTON, L. I. 

officers; the whole sum raised was £(>2).x\.\o, which 
was raised by a voluntary contribution of all the inhab- 
itants, and all who contributed became interested in 
the lands that were not then taken up or appropriated ; 
in proportion to their respective contributions — a right 
was estimated at 75-. 9<af., which made 164 1-2 rights or 
hundreds in the whole Town. 

DIVISION OF THE LANDS. 

A division of the land was made among the proprie- 
tors when a majority of them agreed to it — previous to 
every division, they determined what number of acres 
should be allotted to a right. Two surveyors were an- 
nually chosen to make the division, who laid out the 
land to the several proprietors according to their allot- 
ments, and new divisions were made from time to 
time, until all the lands of any value were taken up. 

The number of rights have been reduced under the 
present patent in the same manner as under the first. 
In 1 731, they were reduced to 137, and probably do 
not now amount to 100. 

In a few instances the proprietors gave certain 
tracts of land to such persons as were willing to pur- 
chase them of the natives ; this appears to have been 
the case with regard to the Baiting place and ^^^ Square- 
pit purchases, and also with regard to the purchases of 
the upland of some or all the necks on the south side. 

In two cases, that of the Half-way hollow hill, and 
of the Yorkers purchase, they sold their right of pre- 
emption to the purchasers. 

27 



A SKETCH OF 



OF TRADE. 



For some time after the first settlement of the town, 
the surplus produce of the settlers, as is the case in all 
new settlements, was needed by the new comers — dur- 
ing this period they had little or no trade, but among 
themselves, and money was very scarce ; contracts were 
made in produce, and business was carried on by bar- 
ter and exchanges — contracts for the sale of land, as 
well as others, were made payable in produce. 

In the draft or copy of a contract, between the town 
and a schoolmaster, dated in 1657, for three years, at 
the rate of ;^2 5 for the first year, ^35 for the second, 
and ^40 for the third ; the salary is stipulated to be 
paid in produce, at fixed prices. 

In 1686, the town contracted with a carpenter to 
make an addition to the meeting-house, to be paid in 
produce, at certain rates. 

In 1674, the town erected a mill at Cowharbour, and 
it is presumed, from circumstances, that the wages of 
the carpenter were also paid in produce. 

In 1682, a farm was sold forego, payable in nine 
annual instalments, in produce, at stipulated prices. 

Debts were discharged, executions satisfied, and 
rates paid with produce — the rate at which produce 
was taken in payment of debts, was the price which 
the merchants gave for the like articles at the time — 
produce was taken on execution, on judgments of the 
town Court, by the same rule, when left to the discre- 
tion of the constable. 

28 



TOWN OF HUNTINGTON, L. I. 

The Court sometimes designated the articles by 
which the judgment should be satisfied, and also fixed 
the prices at which they should be taken. 

5th March, 1665, the Court gave judgment that the 
defendant should pay the debt in wheat, or peas, at 
merchant's prices, viz: wheat at 4^'. 6d. per bushel, and 
peas at 3^. 6d. per bushel ; — in these cases, it is con- 
jectured that the Court only enforced the contract of 
the parties. 

Sometimes the Court ordered the debt to be paid in 
produce, at the current price. 

28th January, 1679, the Court gave judgment that 
the defendant should pay the debt ' ' in good merchant- 
able pay, at the current price. ' ' 

But generally the Court merely gave judgment for 
the debt, and left it to the constable to collect it, ac- 
cording to the usage at the time, which was in salable 
articles, at their current price. 

22d September, 1680, the Court gave judgment for 
the debt, and the constable sold a house and lot, being 
what had then been allotted to two rights, on execu- 
tion, at public auction, for ^^lo io.y., "to be paid in 
merchantable pay, at market prices." 

Executions issuing out of the Court of Sessions were 
also levied in produce, but it was appraised by indiffer- 
ent men, chosen by the parties, or appointed by the 
sheriff, when it was delivered to the plaintiff in satis- 
faction of his judgment. 

The prices of produce receivable for county rates, 



29 



A SKETCH OF 

were fixed by the governor and the Court of Sessions, 
and by the Court communicated to the several towns 
in the county. 

PRICES OF PRODUCE. 

In 1665, the assessors were ordered by law, to esti- 
mate stock at the following rates : 

A horse or mare 4 years old, and upwards, ^12 00 o 

Do. between 3 and 4 - - - - 8 00 o 

Do. do 2 and 3 - - - -4000 

Do. do I and 2 - - - - 3 00 o 

An ox or bull 4 years old and upwards, - 6 00 o 

A cow, 4 years old and upwards, - - 5 00 o 

A steer or heifer between 3 and 4 - - - 4 00 o 

Do. do 2 and 3 - - 2 10 o 

Do. do I and 2 - - - i 10 o 

A goat, I year old, 080 

A sheep, Do. 068 

A swine. Do. i 00 o 

In 1679, the prices fixed by the governor, at which 
produce should be received for county rates, were as 
follows : 

Pork, - . - - -Qo o 3 per lb. 

Beef, - - - - -002 Do. 

Winter wheat, - - 040 per bushel. 

Summer wheat, - -036 Do. 

Rye, ... - 026 Do. » 

Indian corn, - - -023 Do. 

Oil, - - - - I 10 o per barrel. 

In 1637, the prices of produce receivable for taxes 
were, as follows : 

30 



TOWN OF HUNTINGTON, L. I. 



Pork, 


- ;£z 10 ° P6^ barrel. 


Beef, - 


2 00 Do. 


Wheat, - 


050 per bushel. 


Indian corn, - - -026 Do. 


Tallow, - 


00 6 per lb. 


Dry hides. 


- 00 4 Do. 


Green hides, - - 00 2 Do. 


Contract prices 


of various articles, from 1665 to 1687 


Pork, - ^3100 per barrel, or 3^. per lb. 


Beef, - - 


I 10 Do. or 2d. do. 


Butter, - 


00 6 per lb. 


Tallow, 


00 6 Do. 


Hog's fat. 


00 6 Do. 


Wheat, from 


040 per bushel, to 5.?. 


Rye, - 


036 Do. 


Corn, - 


026 Do. 


Oats, 


020 Do. 


Board, 


050 per week. 


Victuals, 


006 per meal. 


Lodging, - 


002 per night. 


Beer, 


002 per mug. 


Pasture, 


010 for a day and night. 


Labor, - 


026 per day. 



OF THE CHARACTER OF THE FIRST SETTLERS. 

The first settlers of Huntington came either from 
the New England colonies, or directly from England, 
and probably some from the one and some from the 
other. They were probably English independent^ 
and partook of the spirit and temper which at that 
time characterized that class of men in England. 

They adopted every precaution in their power for 

31 



A SKETCH OF 

the preservation of good morals and good order in 
their settlement. 

ADMISSION OF SETTLERS. 

6th July, 1662, the people by a vote at Town-meet- 
ing, appointed a Committee consisting of their minister 
and six of their most respectable inhabitants, to ex- 
amine the characters of such as came to settle among 
them, with power to admit or refuse admission to them, 
as they judged they would be likely to benefit or in- 
jure the society, with a proviso that they should not 
exclude any ' ' that were honest and well approved of 
by honest and judicious men, ' ' and forbid any inhab- 
itant to sell or let house or land to any one but such 
as should be approved of by said Committee, under 
the penalty of ^10 to be paid to the Town. 

loth February, 1663, by vote of Town-meeting, they 
ordered a certain house and lot to be seized by an 
attachment for a breach of the aforesaid order. 

19th February, 1663, by a vote of Town-meeting, 
they forbid any inhabitant to entertain a certain obnox- 
ious individual longer than the space of a week either 
gratuitously or for pay, under the penalty of 40.? for 
the breach of the order ' ' made (as they state) for the 
peace of the Town. ' ' 

2d January, 1682, the Town Court ordered the estate 
of a certain person who was likely to spend it by his 
extravagance and intemperance, to be seized by attach- 
ment, that it might be " secured, preserved, and im- 

32 



TOWN OF HUNTINGTON, L. I. 

proved for his livelihood and maintenance, and that 
the Town might not be damnified." 

29th June, 1682, the Town Court ordered that an 
inhabitant who on complaint was convicted of bring- 
ing a bag of meal from Oysterbay to Huntington on 
the Sabbath, should pay a fine of 20s or make an 
acknowledgment for the offence, such as the Court 
would accept. 

3d June, 1683, the Court required a written acknowl- 
edgment such as they prescribed, of three men who 
were convicted of having travelled from Huntington 
to Hempstead on the Sabbath, the preceding winter. 

1 8th October, 1660, they established a house of enter- 
tainment, and to insure good order, made the continu- 
ance of the keeper to depend on the correctness with 
which he discharged the trust. 

In 1657, it would seem they established a school, to 
be continued for three years under the same teacher. 

MINISTRY. 

They had a minister settled among them at a very 
early period of the settlement, if not from its origin. 

William Leveredge was a settled minister in the 
Town in 1659, and had been there some time before, 
but how long is not known. 

February loth, 1662, the people by a vote of Town- 
meeting, appointed two men to purchase a house and 
land for a parsonage, and by a similar vote the 7th 
June, following, they granted to Mr. Leveredge the 

33 



A SKETCH OF 

use of all the meadow about Cow- Harbour on both 
sides of the creek, as long as he should continue the 
minister of Huntington. They also made a vote to 
raise his salary for a number of years in succession, but 
it does not appear what the amount of it was. 

Mr. Leveredge continued in Huntington until some 
time between 1670 and 1673, when he left the Town, 
but for what cause is not stated. 

In April, 1673, the people by a vote at Town-meet- 
ing, authorized the magistrates, with certain others 
named for that purpose, to use their endeavours to pro- 
cure a minister for the Town. 

In January, 1676, by a similar vote, they agreed to 
give Eliphalet Jones an invitation to continue with 
them as minister, and at the same Town-meeting voted 
to give him twenty acres of land where he chose to 
take it up. 

Mr. Jones did not give them a definitive answer 
until June loth, 1677, nor until after the question 
whether they desired his continuance with them as 
their minister, had at his request, again been put to 
the people assembled at a public training, and was 
answered in the affirmative by all but one who were 
present. In 1684, it appears that the salary of Mr. 
Jones was £^02, year. 

Mr. Jones continued the sole minister of Huntington 
until June 5th, 1723, when on account of his age and in- 
firmities, Ebenezer Prime was ordained and settled as 
a colleague with him. Mr. Jones gave the charge to 



34 



. TOWN OF HUNTINGTON, L. I. 

Mr. Prime at his ordination, with which he was so 
much pleased, that he transcribed it into the records 
of the church, and this is the only authentic produc- 
tion of Mr. Jones that is known. — There is a paper 
containing the outlines of a discourse among the Town 
records which is supposed to be his from the date it 
bears, but that is the only evidence of it. — Mr. Jones 
lived some years after this period, but it is not known 
how long. After the death of Mr. Jones, Mr. Prime 
continued alone the minister of Huntington until Octo- 
ber 30th, 1766, when to lighten his labours John Close 
was ordained and settled as a colleague with him. Mr. 
Close continued in that capacity until the fall of 1773, 
when he obtained his discharge and left the town, for 
what cause does not appear from the records. Mr. 
Prime after this continued without a colleague until 
his death in September, 1779 — his salary was ;^ 70 per 
year, and his fire-wood. 

In 1672, the people contracted with the drummer of 
the military company, to beat the drum on the Sab- 
bath, to give notice of the time to assemble for public 
worship ; and this practice probably continued till they 
procured a bell, for which he received ten shillings a 
year from the Town. 

There were forty-three members belonging to the 
Church at Huntington in 1723, when Mr. Prime was 
ordained, and the number was very considerably in- 
creased during his time. 

The constitution of the Church at Huntington was 



35 



A SKETCH OF 

originally congregational, as was that of all the 
Churches in the country. In 1748, the people of Hunt- 
ington were prevailed on to exchange the congrega- 
tional form of government for that of the Presbyterian, 
which had been recommended by some of the minis- 
ters, and had been adopted through their influence the 
year before, by several of the congregations in the 
eastern part of the country. 

MEETING-HOUSE. 

The first meeting-house in Huntington was built in 
1665, an addition of fifteen feet was made to it in 1686. 
The second meeting-house was built in 17 15 — it was 
raised near where the first was erected, but in order 
to compromise a difference between the inhabitants of 
the east and west parts of the Town, relative to the 
proper position of the house, it was taken down and 
erected on the hill east of the valley where the old one 
stood. This house continued till the revolutionary 
war. The British troops stationed in Huntington dur- 
ing the winter of 1777, took possession of it — carried 
the bell aboard one of their ships, which was after- 
wards returned so much injured, that it was necessary 
to have it cast anew — surrounded the house with an 
intrenchment — tore up the seats and made a store- 
house of it. It remained in this condition until the 
fall of 1782, when it was torn down by order of Col- 
onel Thompson, who commanded the troops then sta- 
tioned in the Town, and the materials were employed 
in erecting the barracks in the fort on the burying hill. 

36 



TOWN OF HUNTINGTON, L. I. 

An Episcopal Church was erected in Huntington be- 
tween the years 1750 and 1760. Mr. James Greaton is 
the only minister that was ever settled in that church. 
He came to Huntington in the fall of 1767, and con- 
tinued till his death in the year 1773, after which the 
church was occasionally supplied by other ministers. A 
Presbyterian meeting-house was erected between 
Crab Meadow and Fresh Pond, in the eastern part of 
the town shortly before the revolutionary war, and 
was supplied a part of the time by Mr. Hart, the minis- 
ter of Smithtown. 

MILLS. 

The first grist mill in Huntington was built in 1660, 
on the stream running into the harbour, by Mr. Lever- 
edge, the first minister of the town. 

A mill was erected by the town on the small stream 
at Cowharbour in 1674, which was sold to Jeremiah 
Smith in 1677, on certain conditions, one of which 
was, that he should not exact more than one quart in 
sixteen for toll for grinding wheat, nor more than one 
in twelve for grinding Indian corn. 

The privilege of erecting a mill on the stream at 
Cold Spring, was granted to John Adams, April ist, 
1682. The grant for a mill on Huntington harbour 
was made to Zophar Patt,ii April loth, 1752; and the 
grant for a mill on Cowharbour was made to Sylvanus 
Townsend, January 14th, 1774. 

It is a condition in all these grants for mills, that the 

37 



A SKETCH OF 

grantees, their heirs, or assigns, shall grind for the 
people of the town for a fixed toll. 

In 1686, the town surveyors were directed to lay- 
out all the ponds or places of water conveniently situ- 
ated for that purpose, for public watering places. 

OF THE POLITICAL STATE OF THE TOWN AT DIFFERENT 
PERIODS. 

Long-Island was claimed both by the English and 
the Dutch; Kings and Queen's counties were settled 
under the Dutch; Suffolk county was settled under 
the English, and in defiance of the Dutch claim. 

The several towns in Suffolk county were settled by 
emigrants from England, and the eastern colonies 
without any concert with each other — they were not 
united by any political bond of union, but each was 
independent of the other, nor were they under the 
protection or government of any colony. 

In this situation, being too remote from the mother 
country to derive any aid from there, and without con- 
nections here, the whole powers of government de- 
volved on the inhabitants of each town. Self-preserva- 
tion rendered it absolutely necessary that they should 
assume the exercise of these powers, until a change 
in their situation should supersede the necessity of 
their exercise. 

AT FIRST A PURE DEMOCRACY. 

Thus, each town from its first settlement to the con- 
quest of New York in 1664, was a pure democracy. 

38 



TOWN OF HUNTINGTON, L. I. 

The people in each exercised the sovereign power; all 
questions were determined by the vote of the major- 
part of the people assembled in town meeting. In this 
manner they formed such laws and regulations as they 
judged necessary for the security, peace, and prosperity 
of their infant settlements. 

The town of Huntington was a frontier settlement, 
and was regarded by the Dutch as an encroachment 
on their territory. The colonists took sides with their 
mother countries in the disputes relative to their 
respective claims to the Island. 

MEASURES FOR PUBLIC SECURITY. 

The people of Huntington were obliged to take 
measures for their own security. In order to maintain 
their settlement from which they had formerly been 
forced to remove, they took the precaution of provid- 
ing arms, and erecting a fort as before-mentioned, 
both against the attacks of the Dutch and the 
Indians. 

The Dutch to check the encroachment of the En- 
glish, erected a fort in Oysterbay. 

These two towns continued to be the limits of the 
respective claimants until the whole fell under the 
jurisdiction of the English in 1664. 

The people of Huntington at the same time con- 
trived measures for the preservation of internal order 
as well as external security. 



39 



A SKETCH OF 

ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. 

To secure the administration of justice, and to pre- 
vent and punish crimes, they instituted a court which 
was called the town court, composed of three magis- 
trates, a constable, and clerk, to be chosen annually 
at town meeting. They invested this court with 
power to hear and determine all causes civil and crim- 
inal. The parties were entitled to a jury if either of 
them requested it : the jury consisted of seven men, 
and the verdict was decided by a majority. 

It seems that the parties rarely resorted to a jury, 
as by far the greatest number of decisions are made 
by the court without a jury. 

The judgments of this court extend from a few shil- 
lings to fifty pounds and upwards, and affected lands 
as well as goods and chattels. 

In cases of slander, the judgments, when in favor 
of the plaintiff, are generally in the alternative, that 
the defendant make verbal satisfaction to the plaintiff 
in open court, or pay him a certain sum of money. 
In one case for gross slander and abuse, they adjudged 
the defendant to the stocks, which is the only instance 
of corporal punishment mentioned in the records of 
the court. 

It is a remarkable fact and a decisive proof of the 
purity of the morals of the people, that from the first 
settlement of the town to the year 1664, it does not 
appear that a single criminal case came before the 
court; slander and trespass are the most aggravated 

40 



TOWN OF HUNTINGTON, L. I. 

offence contained in the records. The proceedings of 
the court were governed by the principles of the com- 
mon law, and the acts of the town-meeting. 

The decisions of the court were conclusive, and it is 
to the honour of the magistrates who presided in it, 
that notwithstanding the extent of their powers, they 
seem to have exercised them with great fidelity, pru- 
dence, and moderation. 

The officers of this court frequently made orders 
relative to matters which concerned the welfare of the 
town; which seem to have had the same force and 
effect as the resolutions of the town meeting, from 
which it is presumed that they were invested with 
power for this purpose by the voice of the people. 

The amount of taxes to be raised for public purposes, 
was fixed by a vote of the town-meeting ; and the rates 
were made and gathered by persons chosen for that 
purpose. 

Under the benign influence of the common law, and 
of regulations made by themselves at town meeting, 
and enforced by a court thus constituted, the people 
seem to have enjoyed the usual benefit of good gov- 
ernment, and to have prospered as well as those set- 
tlements that were under the protection of an organ- 
ized government. 

The danger to which the people of Huntington were 
exposed by their situation, induced them to seek for 
protection in a connection with some organized 
colony. 



41 



A SKETCH OF 

NEGOTIATIONS WITH CONNECTICUT. 

In 1658, they choose two men to visit New-Haven for 
this purpose, but it does not appear that they effected 
their object. 

In 1660, they voted to put themselves under the 
jurisdiction of Connecticut. In 1662, they choose two 
deputies to attend the next general court of election, 
to be held at Hartford, in May, 1663, and as a similar 
application was made by the eastern towns about the 
same time, it is probable that they all agreed to be- 
come a part of the colony of Connecticut, and subject 
to its government. 

A clause in the charter of Connecticut annexing the 
islands adjacent to it, to that colony, afforded a pretext 
for their claiming Long- Island. Accordingly the as- 
sembly at Hartford, May 12th, 1664, formally resolved, 
that Long-Island belonged to the jurisdiction of Con- 
necticut by the terms of the charter, and appointed the 
governor and two others to go to the island to settle 
the English plantations there, under the government 
of Connecticut ; to establish quarter-courts, and other 
courts for the administration of justice, provided their 
judgments should not extend to life, limb, or banish- 
ment, and directed capital cases to be tried at Fair- 
field, or Hartford. 

These commissioners met at Setauket in the summer 
of 1664, made some decisions on disputed claims, and 
took some steps towards the objects of their appoint- 
ment ; but these arrangements were all frustrated be- 

42 



TOWN OF HUNTINGTON, L. I. 

fore they could be carried into effect, by the conquest 
of the Dutch settlements by the English shortly after 
they were made. 

Long-Island was comprised in the territory which 
had been conveyed by King Charles the second, to his 
brother James, the Duke of York, the 12th March, 
1664, and he would not suffer any section of country 
to be detached from it, by any agreement between the 
inhabitants and any other colony. 

THE CONQUEST OF NEW-YORK. 

In September, 1664, New- York, then called New- 
Amsterdam, was taken by the British, and the town of 
Huntington and the county of Suffolk, were incorpo- 
rated with the province of New- York, and became sub- 
ject to the government of the Duke of York. 

The people of the several towns in Suffolk county, 
rejoiced at the conquest, and anticipated great benefits 
from an organized British government ; they flattered 
themselves that they should be admitted to the com- 
mon privilege of British subjects, of participating in 
the formation of the laws, by which they were to be 
governed ; but it was not long before they discovered 
that they had been too sanguine in their expectations. 

Richard NicoU, the deputy governor under the Duke 
of York, shortly after he took possession of New- York, 
convened a meeting at Hempstead, composed of two 
deputies from every town on the island, for the pur- 
pose of adjusting disputed boundaries, and settling the 
limits of the several towns. 

43 



A SKETCH OF 

THE duke's government. 1^ 

At this meeting the governor promulgated a code 
of laws which he caused to be framed for the govern- 
ment of the province ; which, with the alterations and 
additions made to them from time to time, continued 
to be the laws of the province, until October 1683, 
when the first colony legislature met, and the people 
were admitted to a share in the legislative power. 

These laws which are called the Duke's laws author- 
ize the several towns to elect a constable and eight 
overseers, who were the assessors of the town, and with 
the constable were empowered to make regulations 
respecting matters that concerned the welfare of the 
town. 

The courts established by these laws, were the town- 
court, the court of sessions, and the court of assize. 

The town-court was composed of the constable and 
two overseers, and had cognizance of all causes under 
five pounds; the justice of the peace was authorized 
but not required to preside in this court. 

The court of sessions was composed of the justices 
of the peace of the county, each of whom was allowed 
j£"2o a year, and had jurisdiction of all criminal causes, 
and of civil causes over ^^5. The judgments of this 
court for sums under ^20 were final; but from such 
that were for more than that sum, the parties might 
appeal to the court of assize. Causes were tried in 
this court by a jury of seven men, in civil cases, and 
in criminal cases not capital, and the verdict was deter- 

44 



TOWN OF HUNTINGTON, L. I. 

mined by the voice of the majority; but in capital 
cases the jury consisted of twelve men, and they were 
required to be unanimous. 

The court of assize was composed of the governor, 
and such magistrates as he chose to call to his assist- 
ance by warrant; suits for demands exceeding ^20 
might be commenced in this court; so that it had 
original as well as appellate jurisdiction, and was a 
court of equity as well as common law. 

TYRANNY OF THE DUKE'S GOVERNMENT. 

The Duke's laws made no provision for a general 
assembly, nor did they give the people any voice in 
the government. The governor possessed unlimited 
powers, he was commander-in-chief; all public officers 
were appointed by him, and held their offices during 
his pleasure ; he retained the exclusive power of legis- 
lation ; could make what laws he pleased, and alter or 
repeal them when he pleased ; he presided in the court 
of assize, which by appeal had the control of all in- 
ferior tribunals. The judgments and decrees of this 
court were in fact those of the governor ; his assistants 
not being colleagues, but merely advisers. 

In this court the governor united the character of 
both legislator and judge; he not only pronounced 
what the law was, but prescribed what it should be. 
All laws subsequent to the code first promulgated are 
stated in the preface to be made at the court of assize ; 
and many of them were partial and arbitrary, as will 

45 



A SKETCH OF 

always be the case where the people have no voice in 
legislation. 

By an act made at this court, October 8th, 1670, a 
levy or contribution was ordered to be made in the 
several towns on the island, to repair the fort at New- 
York. This the people of Huntington refused to obey, 
and assigned this among other reasons for their refusal : 
*' because they were deprived of the liberties of En- 
glishmen ; ' ' intimating that they deemed it a violation 
of their constitutional rights, that their money should 
be taken from them without their consent. 

Charles the second, to extend his territories in 
America by emigration, had declared by proclamation, 
that the purchases fairly made of the natives should be 
a valid title. The towns of South-Hampton, South- 
Old, and Oysterbay, relying on the force of this proc- 
lamation, declined taking out patents for the confir- 
mation of their purchases of the Indians in compliance 
with the governor's order of 1665, which had a retro- 
spective operation in this respect. 

By an act made at the court of assize, October 8th, 
1670, the titles to land in these towns were declared to 
be invalid unless patents were taken out for their con- 
firmation within the time specified in the act. 

By a proclamation of governor Andross, 26th No- 
vember, 1674, a term of the court of sessions, in Suf- 
folk county, was suspended, and the towns of Setauket, 
and Huntington, were ordered to have their business 
for that term transacted at the ensuing court of ses- 



46 



TOWN OF HUNTINGTON, L. I. 

sions at Jamaica, in Queen's county; because the 
towns of East-Hampton, South-Hampton, and South- 
Old, had not returned the accounts of the constables 
and overseers of those towns to the governor accord- 
ing to his orders. 

April, 1682, the people of Huntington, at town- 
meeting, voted to make provision for the time and ex- 
penses of five of their citizens ' ' who were forced to 
New- York, and suffered imprisonment ' ' under the 
same governor, on what pretence is not stated ; but as 
a meeting of delegates from the several towns was 
held there shortly before, for the purpose of deliberat- 
ing on their political condition, it is conjectured that it 
was to punish them for daring to exercise the rights 
of freemen. 

FIRST LEGISLATURE. 

The arbitrary measures of the Duke's governors 
produced so much discontent, that he was at length 
compelled to admit the people to a share in the legisla- 
tive power. The first general assembly met in Octo- 
ber 1683, after which the Duke's laws ceased to oper- 
ate, except such as were adopted or recognized by the 
legislature. 

The innovations made on the Duke's laws for the 
administration of justice by the legislature of 1683, 
are contained in the act published in the appendix to 
the second volume of the revised laws of 181 3. 



47 



A SKETCH OF 

ARBITRARY POWER OF THE GOVERNOR. 

After the organization of the colony legislature, the 
governor still retained many prerogatives which he 
exercised in an arbitrary manner: he had the whole 
power over the public lands: no purchase could be 
made without his licence, and no purchase was of any 
avail unless confirmed by patent within a limited time, 
and for these he extorted such sums from the appli- 
cants as his avarice dictated. 

The fees of patents constituted the principal per- 
quisites of the governor, and the quit rent charged on 
them formed no inconsiderable part of the public 
revenue. 

The interest which the governors had in these, 
operated as an inducement to multiply the number of 
patents and enlarge the quit rents as much as possible. 

In 1685, governor Dongan issued a patent to certain 
persons who did not reside in the town, for the lands 
which had been in dispute between the people of Hun- 
tington and the proprietor of Smith-Town, and had 
been divided between them by the Court of Assize in 
1675, which created a law-suit, but was never carried 
into effect. In 1686, the governor ordered the people 
of Huntington to purchase the lands within their pa- 
tent which were not then purchased of the Indians, in 
order that they might be compelled to take out a new 
patent. 

The quit rent charged on the patent of Huntington 
was not fixed, and the amount which that should be 

48 



TOWN OF HUNTINGTON, L. I. 

was a source of perpetual altercation between the peo- 
ple of Huntington and the Duke's governors. To 
compel them to consent to its being fixed agreeable to 
his wishes in 1686 or 1687, Governor Dongan seized 
their patent, and before he would consent to grant a 
confirmation of it, they were obliged to agree to raise 
;^ 29 4 7 in satisfaction of their quit rent, and for the 
expense of a new patent, which was granted in 1688, 
and the quit rent fixed at 20 shillings a year. 

APPLICATION TO CONNECTICUT. 

These and the like arbitrary proceedings of the 
governors induced the people of Huntington to unite 
with the people of the other towns in the county, in 
an unsuccessful effort to connect themselves with the 
colony of Connecticut, the laws and institutions of 
which were more congenial with their ideas of good 
government than those of the Duke of York, who had 
now become King James the Second. 

OF THE REVOLUTION IN FAVOUR OF WILLIAM AND MARY. 

The abuses which they had suffered under the gov- 
ernors, prompted the measures that were taken in 
New- York in 1689, in favour of the great revolution, 
then going on in England, in behalf of William and 
Mary, and which terminated in the expulsion of James 
the Second from the throne, and forever put an end 
to his authority. 

The patent of 1688 was signed just at the commence- 
ment of those divisions respecting the measures taken 

49 



A SKETCH OF 

in favour of the revolution in England which distracted 
the colony for several years, and was not carried into 
effect before the government was quietly settled under 
the new order of things, when the people of Hunting- 
ton, in order to fix the limits between them and 
Smith-Town, agreeable to their respective titles in 
1694, took out their present patent in which the quit 
rent was fixed at 40 shillings a year, and which they 
discharged by commutation under act of the legisla- 
ture of this state in 1787. 

OF THE ROYAL GOVERNORS. 

The royal governors, after the revolution in 1689, in 
many respects resembled their predecessors; they 
manifested the same disposition to get what they could 
from the people, and the same inclination to rule with- 
out control, although they had less power to gratify 
their inclinations. The whole colony administration 
exhibits a constant conflict between the claims and en- 
croachments of power on the one hand, and the spirit 
of liberty struggling to defeat them on the other. 

OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 

The arbitrary measures of the provincial governors 
taught the people to investigate and to understand 
their rights, and prepared them for the revolution that 
terminated in the independence of the country. The 
people of Huntington were almost unanimously in 
favour of it, and they suffered all manner of hardships 
and privations during the war. 

50 



TOWN OF HUNTINGTON, L. I. 

The powers of the colony governor were suspended 
at the commencement of the revolution, and the gov- 
ernment was administered by a provincial congress, 
aided by town and county committees — Public spirit 
supplied the place of authority, and gave the recom- 
mendations of these bodies the force of law. 

The Island was surrendered the 29th of August, 
1776, and in October, governor Try on came to Hunt- 
ington, called the people together, and by threatening 
imprisonment and banishment compelled the commit- 
tee, by a written declaration, to disavow and condemn 
all their proceedings, and obliged them and the people 
generally, to take the oath of allegiance. The commit- 
tees of the other towns and of the county, were com- 
pelled in the same manner to sign a similar declara- 
tion, and the people to take the same oath. 

SUFFERINGS DURING THE WAR. 

But this submission afforded them no protection to 
their persons or property ; they were not treated as 
subjects or prisoners, but according to the caprice of 
every temporary commander. The whole country 
within the British lines was subject to martial law. 
The administration of justice was suspended; the army 
was a sanctionary for crimes and robbery, and the 
grossest offences were atoned by enlistment. 

The British troops were stationed in Huntington, at 
different times during the war, and the persons of the 
inhabitants were subjected to the orders, and their 
property to the disposal, of the British officers. 

51 



A SKETCH OF 

They compelled some to enlist — others to stand 
guard, and obliged the people generally, to do all 
kinds of personal services ; to work at the forts, to go 
with their teams on foraging parties, and to transport 
their cannon, ammunition, provisions and baggage 
from place to place, as they changed their quarters, 
and to go and come on the order of every petty officer 
who had the charge of the most trifling business. 

In 1 78 1, the town was compelled to raise ^176 by a 
general tax, as a commutation for personal labour to- 
wards digging a well in the fort, on Lloyd's Neck. 
The officers seized and occupied the best rooms in the 
houses of the inhabitants. They compelled them to 
furnish blankets and fuel for the soldiers, and hay and 
grain for their horses. They pressed their horses and 
wagons for the use of the army ; they took away their 
cattle, sheep, hogs, and poultry, and seized without 
ceremony and without any compensation, or for such 
only as they chose to make, for their own use what- 
ever they desired to gratify their wants or wishes. 

In the fall of 1782, at the conclusion of the war, 
about the time the provisional articles of the treaty of 
peace were signed in Europe, Colonel Thompson, 
(since said to be Count Rumford,) who commanded 
the troops then stationed at Huntington, without any 
assignable purpose, except that of filling his own pock- 
ets by its furnishing him with a pretended claim on 
the British treasury for the expense caused a fort to 
be erected in Huntington, and without any possible 



52 



TOWN OF HUNTINGTON, L. I. 

motive except to gratify a malignant disposition by- 
vexing the people of Huntington, he placed it in the 
centre of the public burying ground, in defiance of a 
remonstrance of the trustees of the town, against the 
sacrilege of disturbing the ashes and destroying the 
monuments of the dead. 

In April, 1783, Sir Guy Carleton instituted a board 
of commissioners for the purpose of adjusting such 
demands against the British army as had not been 
settled. The accounts of the people of Huntington 
for property taken for the use of the army, which were 
supported by receipts of British officers, or by other 
authentic vouchers ; which were prepared to be laid 
before the board, amounted to ^7249. 9s. 6d. and these 
accounts were not supposed to comprise one fourth 
part of the property which was taken from them with- 
out compensation. 

These accounts were sent to New- York to be laid 
before the commissioners, but they sailed for England 
before they had exainined them, and the people from 
whom the property was taken were left (like their 
neighbours, who had received no receipts for the prop- 
erty taken from them,) without redress. 

But the inhabitants of Huntington sustained the 
greatest abuse from the British refugees ; who, when 
ever they could shelter themselves under any colour 
of authority, did all the injury in their power ; they 
seized the farms of such of the inhabitants as had gone 
into the American lines; destroyed the timber, and 



53 



A SKETCH OF 

suffered them to go to ruin. Those among them who 
had no character or property, generally resorted to 
Lloyd's Neck, and devoted themselves to pillage and 
robbery ; it was a common practice with them to hang 
the inhabitants whom they robbed, until they were 
nearly dead, to compel them to give them their money, 
and if they were detected, they enlisted, and this ar- 
rested the arm of justice, shielded them from punish- 
ment, and enabled them to bid defiance to those whom 
they had robbed and abused. 

These abuses evinced the value of that maxim of 
free states that makes the military subordinate to the 
civil power, and taught the inestimable value of civil 
laws and legal liberty. 



54 



TOWN OF HUNTINGTON, L. I. 



NOTES. 



When this pamphlet was written by its distinguished author, it 
was to call attention to the advantages presented by that part of 
Long Island, as a place of permanent residence. Previous to the 
Revolution, Long Island was the most important portion of the 
Colony of New York, and it was like a hive that at different 
intervals sent out swarms of inhabitants to settle in other regions. 
In fact, the Counties along the Hudson river, had in addition to 
their original inhabitants, a very large population which origi- 
nally came from Long Island. Mr. Wood's great desire was not 
only to check this emigration, but to attract settlers from other 
parts. The pamphlet which was printed for gratuitous distribu- 
tion, attracted much attention at the time, and to some extent 
realized the hopes of its honored author. 

The patent granted to the town of Huntington by Governor 
Richard Nicoll, Nov. 30, 1666, recites: "Whereas there is a 
certain Town within this Government called and known by the 
name of Huntington, now in the tenure and occupation of 
several Freeholders and Inhabitants." The same is " confirmed 
to Jonas Wood, Wm. Leveridge, Robert Seeley, John Ketcham, 
Thomas Skidmore, Isaac Piatt, Thomas Jones and Thomas 
Weeks, in behalf of themselves and associates." Their bounds 
were " From a certain river or creeke on the west commonly 
called by the Indyans by the name of Nackagnatok, and by the 
English the Cold Spring, and to stretch eastward to Nasaquack 
river, on the north to be bounded by the Sound, running be- 
twixt Long Island and the maine, and on ye South by ye Sea, 
including nine several necks of meadow ground. All which tracts 
of land together with the said necks, are to belong to the said 
Town of Huntington. ' ' 

55 



} 



A SKETCH OF 

HORSE NECK. NO. 2 (PAGE 2). 

This Neck, called in later years "Lloyd's Neck," was pur- 
chased from its original owners by John Richbell. His title was 
disputed by John Conkling, of Southold, but the title of Richbell 
was sustained. He sold it to Nathaniel Sylvester, Thomas Hunt 
and Latimer Sampson and a patent was granted to them by Gov. 
NicoU, Nov. 20, 1667, although it was included within the limits 
of the Patent to Huntington. Nathaniel Sylvester sold his 
share to the other two owners. Latimer Sampson left his share 
by will to Grizzell, the eldest daughter of Nathaniel Sylvester, 
and the share of Thomas Hunt was sold by his attornies, Robert 
Story and John Brown, to James Lloyd, of Boston. He married 
Grizzell Sylvester, and thus the whole tract came to them. Gov. 
Thomas Dongan granted a Patent to James Lloyd, March i8, 
1685, and established it as a "Lordship and manor of Queen's 
village," with full manorial rights. This manorial government 
continued down to the revolution, nearly loo years. It was then 
abolished and the territory was annexed to Queen's County. In 
recent years it has been restored, and is now a part of Suffolk 
County. 

THE FIRST PURCHASE. NO. 2 (PAGE I6). 

The first purchase of lands in Huntington was made from 
Raskokan, Sagamore of Matinecock, by Richard Houldbrook, 
Robert Williams and Daniel Whitehead, April 2, 1653, " Bounded 
on the West side with a river commonly called by the Indians 
Nackaquetock, on the north by the Sea [Sound], and going 
eastward to a river called Opcatkantyoke,* and on the south side 
to the utmost part of my bounds." This deed is signed by 22 
Indians. 

ORIGIN OF NAME. NO. 3 (PAGE 1 7). 

The original name of the tract embraced in this town was 
Ketewamoke. The town was called Huntington probably in 

* This is the stream at the head of Northport Harbor. 

56 



TOWN OF HUNTINGTON, L. I. 

honor of the village in England, which was the birthplace of 
Oliver Cromwell. 

THE EASTERN PURCHASE. NO. 4 (PAGE 18). 

" On or about the Last day of July, 1656," the Indian Sachem 
Asharakan sold to Jonas Wood, Wm. Rogers and Thomas 
Wilkes "All the meadows, fresh and salt, lying and being on 
the north side of Long Island, from our former bounds, Cow 
Harbor brooke, to Nessequake river." This was called the 
Eastern Purchase. All that part that lies east of Unthemamuck, 
or the Fresh Pond, was claimed by Richard Smith, the founder 
of Smithtown, on the ground that it was not the property of the 
above-named Sachem, but was a part of the land conveyed 
by the Mantauk Sachem, Wyandauch, to Lyon Gardiner. 
After a long controversy, the claim of Richard Smith was 
sustained. 

THE SOUTH PURCHASE. NO. 5 (PAGE l8). 

On June i, 1667, Wyandouch the Great Sachem of Mantauk, 
sold to Jonas Wood, " for himself, and the rest of his neighbors 
of Huntington," " Five necks of meadow lying next adjoining to 
Massapeags Sachems' lands." This was the first Indian deed 
for lands on the south side of Long Island in Huntington. 
These necks were bounded on the north by the "Old Indian 
Path," which was the ancient fording place where the Indians 
crossed the heads of the various creeks. 

On Aug, 17, 1658, Wyandanch sold to Henry Whitner, of 
Huntington, "for the use of the whole town of Huntington," 
"three whole necks of meadow lying on the southward side of 
that town, and westwardly from the 6 necks which we bought 
heretofore. ' ' 

This deed was executed through Cockenoe, the famous Indian 
interpreter, as agent for Wyandanch. Among the various arti- 
cles given for this tract was "A Great Fine Looking Glass." 
This is probably the first mention of a looking glass in Suffolk 
County. 

57 



A SKETCH OF 

POPULATION. NO. 6 (PAGE 2). 

From these tables it will be seen that in 1820, Huntington was 
the second town in the county in wealth and population. A few 
years later the proportion was greatly changed, especially by 
the sudden growth of villages like Sag Harbor, which is now 
and has been for some years, the largest village. 



In old times the region now embraced in the town of Babylon 
was known as " Huntington South." The town of Babylon was 
established in 1872. 

The village of Babylon is situated on a neck known in early 
times as Sumpwam's Neck. The following article from Dr. 
Wm. Wallace Tooker, the distinguished student of the Indian 
language, explains its meaning: 

THE NAME SUMPWAMS AND ITS ORIGIN. 
NO. 7 (page 12). 

BY WM. WALLACE TOOKER. 

The name Sumpwams appears about twenty-one times in the 
printed records of the town of Huntington, with the following 
leading variations in orthography, viz. : Sampawame, Sump- 
wams, Sowampams, 1689; Sumpawatns, 1690; Sam,pau7nes, 
1697; Sumpwams, 1740; and, although "commonly so-called" 
in 1689, it does not appear earlier in the records. It is evident 
from the insistence of the English possessive, that the neck of 
land on which the name was originally bestowed, derives its 
appellation from an Indian named Sampawam or Sumpwam, 
who formerly lived and planted there. There are other necks of 
land extending into Great South Bay, and contingent waters, 
which take their Indian names from like circumstances. I am 
aware that no Indian, designated by this name in its entirety, 
can be found mentioned in the records ; but there is one, how- 
ever, whose popular cognomen among the settlers, may be a 
curtailed reminder of Sumpwams. In the ' ' Indian deed for 

58 



TOWN OF HUNTINGTON, L. I. 

Sumpwams' Neck" (H. R. Vol. i. p. 171), his name is written 
"pwamas," which is seemingly near enough to the conclusion, 
that this name in its various forms, seldom twice alike, is a collo- 
quial contraction. Similar change is noticed in the English con- 
traction "Sz'ases" for Josiah's Neck in the same township. The 
meaning of Stimpw ams x^ the "straight walker" or "he goes 
straight," hence, an "upright or just man." The prefix Sump 
or Saump, being the equivalent of the Narragansett Sauinpi; 
Massachusetts Sampwz, signifying primarily "straight," "di- 
rect," and by metonymy, "just," upright, right in action or 
conduct, being used more often in this sense than in the other by 
Eliot in his Indian Bible. The terminal is the verb of motion, 
in the third person singular — au7n = 8m, or "as Eliot sometimes 
wrote it, w8?n, "he goes," hence we have in Eliot's notation 
Samp-wSm' s Neck. 

The full account of the lengthy controversy between Smith- 
town and Huntington may be found in the printed volume of 
Smithtown Records. No. 8 (page 17). 

The tract of land known as Winnecomac, now a part of Smith- 
town, was an independent purchase made by Charles Congreve, 
and the greater part of which was afterwards owned by Rip Van 
Dam, a very prominent citizen of New York. A dispute between 
the owners of the tract, and the town of Huntington, as regards 
the south line was settled by agreement. No. 9 (page 18). 

" Square Pit purchase " is a misprint for Squaw pit purchase, 
a well known tract near the middle of the town. No. 10 (page 27). 

Zophar Patt is a misprint for Zophar Piatt, a very prominent 
member of a well known family. For a full account, see Thomp- 
son's Hist, of L. I. No. II (page 37). 

The Code enacted by the Duke of York was published in a 
manuscript volume, copies of which were sent to each town. So 
far as we know only two of these original copies are in existence, 
one in Huntington, and one in Southampton. The whole was 
printed many years since by the New York Historical Society. 
No. 12 (page 44), 

59 



INDEX. 



Adams, John, 37. 

American Revolution, 50. 

Andross, Gov., 46. 

Babylon, 58. 

Baiting Place, 27. 

Brook Haven, 3, 4. 

Brown, John, 56. 

Carleton, Sir Guy, 53. 

Charles 2nd, 43. 

Close, John (Rev.), 35- 

Cockenoe (Indian Interpreter), 

57- 
Cold Spring, 19, 25, 37, 55- 
Cold Spring Harbour, i, 11, 

13, 16. 
Congreve, Chas., 59. 
Conkling, John, 55. 
Copiage, vii. 

Cow Harbour, 11, 16, 34, 37, 57- 
Crab-Meadow, 23, 37. 
Cromwell, Oliver, 57. 
Dix Hills, 7- 
Dongan, Thos. (Gov.), 48, 49, 

56. 
Duke's Government, 44. 
Duke's Government, Tyranny 

of, 45. 
Duke's Laws, 19, 20. 
East-Hampton, 3, 4, 17, 47. 
Eaton, Gov., 16. 



Eaton's Neck, 16. 
Fire Island Inlet, 11, 12. 
Fresh Pond, i, 18, 37. 
Gardiner's Island, 20. 
Gardiner, Lyon, 17, 20, 57. 
Governor Royal, 50. 
Greaton, James (Rev.), 37. 
Half Way Hollow Hills, 12, 13, 

27. 
Hart, Mr. (Minister Smith- 
town), 37. 
Hempstead vii., 11, 43. 
Hollow Hills, 10. 
Horse Neck, 2, 16, 23, 56. 
Houldbrook, Richard, 56. 
Huntington — 

Admission of Settlers, 32. 

Agriculture, 9. 

Animals, 15. 

Boundary, i. 

British Troops in, 51. 

Character of First Settlers,3i. 

Climate, 5. 

Courts of, 40. 

Division of the Lands, 27. 

Eastern Purchase, 57. , 

First Indian Deed, 16. 

First Legislature, 47. 

First Purchase of, 56. 

First Settlement of, 16. 



61 



INDEX. 



Huntington — 

Governor's Powers, 48. 

Harbours, Bays, Creeks, 11. 

Indian Proprietors of, 17. 

Laws of Timber Cutting, 22. 

Measures for Security, 39. 

Meeting Houses, 36. 

Mills in, 37. 

Ministry of, 33. 

Mode of Obtaining Land, 24. 

Negotiations with Conn., 42. 

Origin of Name, 56. 

Political State of, 38. 

Population, 2, 58. 

Soil, 8. 

South Purchase, 57. 

State of the Indians, 18. 

Surface of, 7, 21. 

Timber of, 14. 

Trade of. 28. 
Hunt, Thomas, 56. 
Huyck, Catherine, viii. 
Islip, 3, 4, II. 
Jamaica, 47. 
Johnstown, viii. 
Jones, Eliphalet (Rev.), 34. 
Jones, Mr. (Minister), 19. 
Jones, Thomas, 55. 
Ketcham, John, 55. 
Ketewamoke, 56. 
Kieft, Gov., 16. 
Kings Co., 3, 5, 
Leveredge, Wm. (Rev.), 33, 

:"- 34. 55. 

Lloyd's Harbour, xi. 



Lloyd, James, 56. 

Lloyd's Neck, 56. 

Lloyd's Neck, Fort at, 52, 54. 

Massapeags Indians, 17. 

Matinecoes Indians, 17. 

Montgomery County, N.Y.,viii. 

Mouches, 12. 

Nackagnatok, 55. 

Nackaquetock River, 56. 

Narraganset Indians, 20. 

Nasaquack River, 55. 

New York Historical Society, 

59- 
New York, repair of Fort, 46. 
Nissaquage River, 17, 25. 
Nicoll, Richard, 43, 55. 
Old Indian Path, 57. 
Opcatkantyoke River, 56. 
Oyster Bay, 11, 16, 46. 
Oyster Bay, Fort at, 39. 
Paumanacke, Sachem of, 20. 
Peconic River, vii. 
Pequod Indians, 21. 
Pratt, Zophar, 37, 59. 
Plott, Isaac, 55. 
Prime, Ebenezer (Rev.), 34. 
Princeton College, vii. 
Queens Co., 3, 5. 
Queen's Village, 56. 
Raskokan, Sagamore of Matine- 

cock, 56. 
Richbell, John, 55. 
River Head, 3, 4. 
Rockway, 11. 
Rogers, Wm., 57. 



62 



INDEX. 



Ralph, Moses, ix. 

Rumford, Count, 52. 

Sag Harbour, 58. 

Sampson, Latimer, 56. 

Secataugs Indians, 17. 

Seeley, Robt., 55. 

Setauket, 42. 

Shelter Island, 3, 4. 

Skidmore, Thos., 55. 

Smith, Elizabeth, x. 

Smith, Josiah, x. 

Smith, Richard, 17, 57. 

Smithfield, 17. 

Smith, Jeremiah, 37. 

Smith Town, 3, 4, 18, 20, 48, 50. 

Smithtown Records, 59. 

South Hampton, vii., 3, 4, 11, 

16, 46, 47, 59. 
South Old., 3, 4, 46, 47. 
Spooner, Alden J., ix. 
Square Pit, 27. 
Square Pit Purchase, 59. 
Sticklin, Mr., vii. 
Story, Robt, 56. 
Suffolk Co., 3, 5, 38, 56. 
Sumpwams' Neck, 58. 
Sumpwams, Origin o£ Name, 58. 
Sunken-Meadow, 23. 
Sunquam's Neck, i, 12, 13. 
Sweet Hollow, x. 



Sylvester, "Grizzell, 56. ' 

Sylvester, Nathaniel, 56. 

Thompson, Col., 36, 52. 

Tooker, Wm. Wallace, 58. 

Townsend, Sylvanus, 37. 

Tryon, Gov. 51. 

Unthemamuck, 57. 

Van Dam, Rip, 59. 

Velsor, John, 13. 

Weeks, Thomas, 55. 

West Hills, VII., 10. 

West Neck, i. 

Whitehead, Daniel, 56. 

Whitman's Hollow, 18. 

Whitner, Hy., 57. 

Wilkes, Thos., 57. 

William and Mary, 49. 

Williams, Robert, 56. 

Winnacomac Patent, i, 18, 59. 

Wood, Jonas, vii., 55, 57. 

Wood, Joshua, vii. 

Wood, Ruth, VII. 

Wood, Samuel, vii. 

Wood, Selah, vii. 

Wood, Silas, Biographical 

Sketch of, VII. -X. 
Wyandance Sachem, 17, 20, 57 
Yonkers Purchase, 27. 
York, Duke of, Code, 59. 
York, Duke of, 43. 



63 



OCT 17 1898 



